Marcello's divine bombardment had wiped out thousands of clustered monsters, but a few stragglers remained.

-Tower Master! Seven enemy entities detected ahead!

'No time to shoot them down one by one. I'll break through at high speed!'

I poured mana into the wings. The wing golem burned through its fuel, accelerating even faster as I easily evaded the monsters' attacks with sharp maneuvers.

'This is harder than I thought!'

Even with a mana barrier, the headwind was intense. I was using more mana to maintain the barrier than I was for flying.

-Tower Master! Mana projectiles incoming!

'Doesn't matter!'

I pushed my speed even higher. Using Deva's Eye, I calculated the projectiles' trajectories and pushed forward, diving straight into the barrage of purple mana bullets.

'I can do this.'

I immersed myself completely. Deva's Eye made the world slow to a crawl, calculating the path of every projectile and displaying it before me. Even amidst this storm of magic, a path was formed. All I had to do was follow it.

It felt like playing a bullet-hell game. My heart leaped with every mana bullet that grazed past my body, but not a single one hit me. The tension faded, replaced by an exhilarating sense of speed that coursed through me.

[Over-immersion Trait has reached Lv.9.]

[Predictive Evasion Trait has reached Lv.5.]

'Fwoosh!'

I finally broke free from the relentless barrage. But the sight before me made my jaw drop.

-Tower Master! This time, 247 enemy entities confirmed!

'…How many?'

One obstacle after another. Even more monsters were flying ahead, blocking my path. In the distance, I could see Armin Walter in Yoonjeong's body, commanding the monsters as he fled.

'I won't let you get away, even if my life depends on it.'

I increased my speed. The wing golem burned through mana, accelerating more and more as I dodged the swinging arms of large monsters one after another like a stunt pilot.

Control. It was all about control. With Deva's Eye, I could see their attacks. I focused all my energy on flight. How much mana to burn to fly a certain distance, when to brake, and when to turn.

I was slowly getting the hang of it. The wings and my body felt like one. This had to become as familiar as breathing.

'Good.'

The state of immersion was perfect. When I was completely united with the world like this, the world would give me an answer, as much as I pushed myself, as much as I challenged myself.

[Flight Trait acquired.]

It was the same back then, and it is the same now. I didn't get greedy. A hundred percent evasion was impossible. As long as it wasn't a major attack, I pushed forward, taking the hits with the shield around me.

The distance to Armin Walter was only 3.5 kilometers. Just a little more…!

'KABOOM!'

An explosion right next to me shook my body.

'What? I dodged that.'

-Right wing golem damaged!

The mana structure became entangled, and the lift in one wing faltered. At the same time, a large monster's fist was closing in. I couldn't dodge this one. I descended as much as possible and deployed a shield in front of me.

'CRAAACK!'

Hit by the monster's fist, my body plummeted to the ground. The world spun. The moment I hit the earth, dirt flew up and filled my mouth.

-Tower Master!

My body felt like it was going to break.

"Ptooey! I'm fine, just fix the wing golem, quick!" I spat out a mouthful of dirt.

Monsters were rushing toward me as I lay on the ground. I struggled to lift my head. Armin Walter was getting farther away again.

'I will catch you. I will catch you no matter what it takes.'

'Krieee!'

'Screee!'

The surrounding monsters swarmed in like a black tide. In response, I released all my mana.

'Yeah, come on. I'll kill every last one of you.'

'Whoooooosh!'

A sandstorm blew.

'Huh?'

The charging monsters were pushed back by the fierce gale.

Sand vortexes erupted from all directions, sucking in the monsters' bodies like black holes, tearing their arms and heads from their bodies.

'What is…?!'

"Hey!"

I calmed my wildly beating heart and looked up. A woman riding the sand was grinning and extending her arm toward me.

"Grab on!"

Without hesitation, I grabbed her hand and climbed onto the wave of sand. Pharaoh Menes. No, it wasn't her anymore.

As she swung her arm, torrents of sand materialized in the sky and began an aerial assault—a symphony of overwhelming numbers and speed. Any monsters that came within range were either shredded or crushed.

As she stood there, frowning in concentration, I asked, "…You're Yoonjeong, right?"

She glanced at me. And then…

'Thwack!'

She punched me hard in the side.

"Aaargh!"

"Hey, you crazy bastard! Was your grand plan to shove me into this woman's body? Are you a complete psycho or what?!"

I clutched my side and rolled around on the sand. It hurt like hell.

"…I had no choice," I said, rubbing my side. "Once you become a demonkin, you can never go back to being human, especially if you're the core of a Disaster. No matter how much you struggle, your only end is death."

She fell silent.

"That's too unfair, isn't it? This was the only way to escape a predetermined fate."

Menes was dead. After being forcibly transferred into Armin Walter's body, she would have been silenced like his other victims. When Walter entered Yoonjeong, Menes's body would be without a master. So, my apologies to Menes, but the living have to live.

"…You," Yoonjeong said, glaring at me. "You're a hopeless, crazy, psychopathic bastard."

"…Is that the proper way to talk to your savior?" I grumbled, watching the monsters get shredded by the sand.

She blushed, and her eyes darted around. Then she said in a very small voice, "…Still, it's amazing."

"What is?"

"Just being able to keep breathing and talking to you like this."

I grinned playfully and looked her up and down. "Is that all? Compared to before, your body now is…"

"Hey! You wanna die? You always have to ruin a serious moment… ugh, never mind! Forget I said anything!"

"Can't argue with the facts, can you?"

"You're so dead later."

We bickered as we chased Armin Walter. In the distance, we could see his winged figure.

Suddenly, Yoonjeong chuckled. "Isn't human fate a strange thing?"

"Why?"

"I've become someone else, and now I'm chasing myself."

"It's certainly not an experience many people get to have," I admitted.

She let out a small, dry laugh, then her expression turned serious again. "This body's mana is almost empty. I'm reaching my limit."

"Leave the rest to me."

"Are your wings repaired?"

"More or less."

She placed a hand on my shoulder. "You promised, right?"

I nodded seriously. "Of course. I'll permanently erase your embarrassing former body from this world."

"…I'm really going to kill you." The scary part was that she now had enough power to actually do it.

While she bought me time, I equipped Devastar on both my feet and repaired the wings. Since they were made of mana, as long as the device on my shoulders wasn't directly damaged, it wasn't a big problem.

Beads of sweat formed on Yoonjeong's forehead. It was amazing how well she was doing with a body and abilities she was using for the first time. But it seemed her stamina and mana were reaching their limits, as the speed of the sand began to noticeably slow.

"This is as far as I go," she said. "Now go. End this damned Disaster."

"Okay."

I gave her a high-five and turned my back.

<Devastar>

With a flash of black light, my body shot forward.

* * *

"Focus! Hold your positions!"

"Request for support from Sector B!"

"Is the flamepower party asleep?!"

At the mouth of the Disaster, where monsters poured toward Earth, hunters held a defensive line against the endless onslaught. Behind them was a gaping hole leading to the planet below. The dizzying view revealed the incredible altitude at which they fought.

"Sector B is being pushed back!"

"Don't let them slip through! Fight with the mindset of killing them all here!"

There were no reserves. The entire breach team was on the field, fighting tenaciously, covered in monster blood. Even veteran hunters were stunned by the relentless enemy assault.

Just then.

'Whoooooooosh!'

With a piercing shriek, something descended from above at an incredible speed and shot straight through the hole. The hunters clashing with monsters at the front line couldn't stop it in time.

"Wh-what was that?"

"It looked like a person."

'Fwoooooooosh!'

Following it, a man with shining wings swooped down and exited the gate. Everyone exchanged bewildered glances.

"Hey! What are you doing over there!? Don't worry about a few stragglers and block the front! The front!"

"Sector D keeps letting them through! Who's in charge?"

For the hunters on the scene, the hundreds of thousands of monsters right before them were a more pressing concern.

* * *

Yusin chased Armin Walter out of the gate. He had thought Walter would keep running inside the Disaster, but surprisingly, he had chosen to escape to the outside. Being hit by the Soul Dagger and unable to use the Disaster to heal was likely the main reason.

'Whoa.'

Chasing him out was one thing, but the moment he realized how high up he was—thousands of meters up in the air—his mind went blank. The wind whipped his hair and clothes around wildly.

-Tower Master! The altitude is too high! Flying at this height cannot be sustained even with a mana barrier!

"In that case…" Yusin took out a bottle of mana potion, drank it, and cast a new spell.

<Aiolos>

A fourth-order wind magic enveloped his body completely. In this state, Yusin got into position and activated the wing golem.

'Much better! Should've done this from the start.'

Now, the headwind wasn't a burden even at high speed. The atmosphere enveloping his body let the wind flow past lightly. With reduced resistance, his speed increased.

Yusin flew on, staring straight ahead. Armin Walter, in Yoonjeong Han's body, was flying with large bat-like wings, still clutching the dagger embedded in his abdomen. It seemed he had done something about the pain, but it was clear the dagger was still causing him stress.

"Persistent…!" Armin Walter swung his arm irritably, and a succession of purple mana bullets flew from the air.

-Target range prediction complete.

-Activating shield.

Yusin evaded the mana bullets with high-speed flight. The impact from the explosions was directly offset by Ea's shield.

Seeing that Yusin's evasive maneuvers were better than expected, Armin Walter stopped and hovered in place. Yusin also adjusted the wing golem's mana and stopped in the sky.

"Given up?" Yusin asked.

"Not a chance." Walter fired a surprise mana bullet. The moment Yusin easily dodged it and looked forward, Walter's facial skin had peeled away, revealing Yoonjeong's face.

'That bastard…!'

Yusin gritted his teeth.

* * *

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